Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful Bond
by Dixie Dewdrop
Summary: NCIS celebrates Christmas with a tribute to Senior Field Agent Anthony Dinozzo through both his contributions, and through the loss of his Bond. This is part of my Here and Now series.
1. Have No Fear

Have No Fear

Probably because he missed out on any semblance of holiday rituals the majority of his childhood, NCIS Senior Field Agent Anthony Dinozzo thrived upon the Christmas movie tradition he had personally established at the agency the year he joined it.

Thanks to Tony, his closest colleagues gathered annually to honor Christmas together over a viewing of Jimmy Stewart's classic _It's A Wonderful Life_ in MTAC every December.

Excited at the evening ahead and humming "Jingle Bells" loudly, Tony barely managed to gain entrance via the scanner, thanks to the two tremendous bowls of buttered popcorn he clutched.

Once safely inside, though, he threaded his way down the short flight of stairs and set the popcorn on the side table designated for food. Despite verbal instructions from Leon Vance, the NCIS head honcho, not to do anything to diminish the seriousness of the room or the mission within its walls, Brinna Palmer and Laila Franks had slipped in earlier with Dr. Ducky Mallard and Jackson Gibbs.

Thus, strands of colored lights framed the tremendous video screen, gorgeous poinsettias lined the stairs, and tables embellished in decorative Christmas themes lay covered with Christmas treats and beverages. With a nod to Gibbs and Ducky two coffee pots waited- one filled with strong coffee for Jethro to enjoy, and the other to provide hot water for the tea they had readied for Dr. Mallard.

For the others, a punch bowl of eggnog invited tasting, along with spicy mulled cider.

Laughing at Tony's attempts to juggle the popcorn bowls to keep the kernels safely within the containers, the girls each grabbed one.

Relieved of his offering, Tony stood still a moment and willed himself to accept that he had orchestrated this gathering and was instrumental in encouraging the goodwill and companionship all around him. Pivoting slowly, he drank in all aspects of his highly anticipated evening and allowed himself to bask in the comfort and love of the scene stretched in front of him.

His boss met his eye and subtly nodded, his signal to Tony that the agent had made his father figure- leader- mentor, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, very proud.

Acknowledging the communication with a lopsided grin, Tony turned his attention to Jimmy Palmer, Ducky's assistant medical examiner and newlywed of Brinna. Acting as the disc jockey, Jimmy supervised an audio and video Christmas carol display which scrolled across the room's huge screen. Not only did the beautiful musical tributes play in the background and create the ambience, but he had coordinated the lyrics to scroll underneath visual depictions in the songs.

Timothy McGee hovered over the video board's controls, his fingers flying as he worked. Tiptoeing, Tony laughed uproariously as he threw himself down in the seat beside Tim, who jumped in surprise.

Scowling, Tim chided him. "You could have announced yourself, Tony."

"True," Tony grinned, "but I wanted to creep quietly like Santa and sneak up on you."

Tim regarded him with a mixture of exasperation and affection. "Will you scram now? I want to finish this before the movie starts."

"You have it loaded or streamed or whatever?"

Regarding Tony appreciatively, his coworker threw an arm over his shoulder. "The movie's ready to rock the house. All systems are go."

"Ok," Tony flashed him a genuine smile, and Tim couldn't resist grinning in return. His partner was such a mix of rogue and child that it proved difficult to even become frustrated with him at times.

The senior field agent scanned the viewing area as he rose, and his earlier feeling of peace intensified.

Here in this very important link to national security, a congregation of those closest to Tony Dinozzo milled. Though his boss and Abby Scuito, the agency's forensic scientist, actually comprised his surrogate family, he genuinely cared for the others surrounding him.

Despite his stern lip service reiterating the role of agents and the use of the MTAC room, NCIS Director Leon Vance carefully arranged the toys donated for the Marine Corp's Toys for Tots program under the Christmas tree Abby had set up and decorated. Tony watched as Vance knelt down on the floor to drag some of the smaller parcels to the front.

The Director's outgoing son, Jared, currently wound his way through the celebrants handing out red fur hats, elf ears, reindeer horns, and other items to upgrade and embellish apparel. Kayla, his sister, lifted little Amira, Laila's small daughter, to hang beautiful red velvet stockings on the temporary mantle Gibbs had designed and built for the occasion.

Excited with the activity, Tony reminded himself that the event had begun his first year as a simple movie viewing, but had now grown to encompass all of the room's occupants.

He felt blessed, and good, and so grateful that he now shared this celebration.

Ducky, or Doctor Mallard, clapped loudly as he strode to the center of the room. "Allow me your attention for a moment."

The listeners silenced themselves in a couple of seconds and then regarded Ducky expectantly.

Motioning around the room, he spoke with a voice tinged with regret, but also with hope. "Let us look around at this room this evening, and at these people around us, and remember how we should always treasure each other."

Director Vance glanced swiftly at his children with Ducky's words. They faced the first Christmas without Jackie, their mother. Both returned his appraisal with reassuring grins, but like with their father, the ache still throbbed.

"So in the spirit of acknowledging what has been given us, and the spirit in which we conduct our lives, let us take seats so that Jackson Gibbs can remind us of the origins of love and sacrifice in our world."

As the group settled into cushioned seats in the viewing rows, Jethro's father, Jackson, strode to the middle of the area.

The lights dimmed, highlighting his mission.

Tim slid away from the controls and approached Jackson. As he spoke with him he gestured toward the video screen.

Finally, he returned to his responsibility.

Jackson adjusted his glasses and regarded all of the listeners before focusing upon one. "Tony, we owe you our appreciation today for insisting that we take this one evening a year to not only reaffirm the value of life, but to look around and see what honestly makes life worth living."

A chorus of thanks for the senior field agent followed, and the audience broke into extemporaneous applause.

Tony, never able to understand how valued he was to others, looked away.

Opening a well worn copy of _The Holy Bible_, Jackson's voice mesmerized the spectators as he read the account of the birth of Christ to them.


	2. Take My Hand

Take My Hand

At the conclusion, Leon Vance stood and moved towards the edge of the aisle. Raising his eyebrows, he pointed to both Tim and Tony. "Agents McGee and Dinozzo, please accompany Ms. Scuito and Agent Gibbs to the front of the room."

Abby bounced as she followed the order, clearly excited, and Tim appeared just as enlivened. In contrast, Jethro's face remained impassive- its usual look, while Tony trailed behind, not sure why the Director had summoned him.

Gibbs motioned the younger three to make a line before him, then pointed at Tim to take his place at the video controls. Inclining his head, he waited with a small grin as Abby curtsied at the audience, who laughed at her theatrics, then danced up the steps toward the door and the light controls. She made an adjustment, and light flooded the room.

Gibbs reached out and placed his left hand on Tony's shoulder, then tapped him under the chin. "Tony, over two years ago you made a decision that changed your life forever, and saved the life of a little boy in the process."

Leaning his head back, Tony whispered, "Bond, you mean Bond, Boss."

"Yes," Jethro agreed. "Not only did you fight for him, but you refused to turn him loose until you could assure yourself that he would have a lifetime of love."

Tony pursed his lips, emotion beginning to affect him.

He had met little Bond, whose real name was Silas, when the child's father blew their house to smithereens. The child, just shy of eighteen months, latched onto Tony.

Taking the baby to the home he shared with Jethro and Abby, Tony and Silas spent the next couple of months together. Not willing to have the toddler experience a moment of fear or a hint of rejection, Tony, whose own childhood had lacked security and affection, showered the baby with love and reassurance.

Though he had inadvertently nicknamed the curly blond cherub James Bond, after a favorite book and movie character, Silas had insisted upon referring to Tony by the same name.

Cute as the dual name was, it highlighted the child's need for attachment.

So, it nearly broke Tony's heart when he made the decision to turn the little one over to his maternal aunt, Marissa Kaden, who served in the military. He did so because of the reality that the unselfish side of him wanted, more than anything, to know that his boy would have a childhood experienced through love, happiness, family, and security.

"Hey," Gibbs commanded, breaking into his protégé's reverie. "Pay attention."

Tony regarded him sheepishly. "Got it, Boss-"

Turning, he regarded the others in the room.

"Even though you Skype and video chat with Bond, and Marissa sends pictures and updates, it does not ease the longing," Jimmy Palmer added. "We know that."

Rubbing his glasses on the sleeve of his shirt, Ducky observed, "Obviously you will one day have vacation time available which coincides with Marissa's schedule. As it stands now, you have spent over two years missing that boy."

"Because we are well aware of your appreciation of John Lennon, Tony," Abby shared with him, "we all got together with Timmy to create something for you to give you an extra special Christmas present this year."

"Nothing can substitute for the real thing, but see if this helps," Tim advised, pointing at MTAC's tremendous screen.

Jackson reminded everyone, "Immediately following we will enjoy _It's A Wonderful Life, _so stay put."

After planting Tony right in front of the huge screen and ordering him to remain there, Gibbs left and took a position leaning against the wall on the opposite side from Tim, who operated the video controls.

Abby dimmed the lights to a soft glow, and the audience settled in for the presentation.

With a burst of pixels, a picture of Tony holding Bond filled the enormous screen. Bond, dressed in fireman pajamas, lay against Tony's chest, Tony's arm thrown protectively over him. Tony lay back in the chair, his feet resting upon an ottoman.

The two slept soundly.

The first syllables of John Lennon's _Beautiful Boy_ began to play and the notes visibly shook Tony. He did not take his eyes off of the collage of pictures in front of him as they paraded past, while he drank in the memories, and witnessed the hints of Bond's new life.

Lennon sang about bedtime prayers while a frame of Tony and Silas appeared, Tony's large hands covering the little boy's tiny ones as they knelt by the bed for the nightly sacrament.

There were shots of Tony and Bond as they once were together, of Bond with various members of the NCIS family, and pictures of Bond as he celebrated birthdays and Christmases estranged from Tony and with Marissa.

Lennon sang of his impatience to see his son mature into an adult. Tony understood, his own hopes and dreams for Silas always in the forefront of his own thoughts.

Before the first stanza of the song finished playing, the listeners began to harmonize with their voices.

Already astonished with the incredible gift presented on the screen, Tony turned yet again to regard them, overwhelmed at their compassion. Then once more, he focused upon the screen.

Every time John Lennon led the MTAC audience into the song's poignant chorus, the audience looked up and focused upon shots Tim had included of Tony and Bond together.

NCIS Senior Field Agent Anthony Dinozzo joined his friends and sang, his voice meshing with all of the others in the room as the words _Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful- beautiful boy_ flowed through MTAC.

As the lyrics progressed, the video followed suit with one scene after another filling the screen.

When the song's conclusion approached, however, Tony thrust his hands in his pockets and stopped singing, too emotional to continue. Instead, he clenched his jaw and watched as his little Bond placed a black hat on a fat snowman, then stood front and center as an angel at a church Nativity play.

The final image featured Bond, grinning delightedly, with his arms stretched above his head. The child waved a photo of Tony and him snapped the last day he had spent in Washington before leaving with his aunt.

Mesmerized at the child's sheer joy and with the love that tightened around his heart at his Bond, it took Tony a couple of seconds to realize that not only had the voices in the MTAC room gotten softer, but they had modified the chorus to sing, "_Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful- beautiful Bond!"_

Pivoting to thank them, he froze mid motion. There, on the top step by the entrance to MTAC, stood his little Bond, flanked by Marissa and Abby.

His emotions and intellect leapt to make sense of the scene in front of him, and suddenly he understood that his family had been determined to give him his boy for Christmas.

They knew what mattered to him.

Now, he could not deny that they cared deeply and wanted to demonstrate their love.

It had taken them all detailed planning and united subterfuge to bring Marissa and Bond to D.C. for Christmas.

They had worked as a team for him, with him as their focal point.

Tony started hurrying towards the stairs.

Then, not taking his eyes off of the child, he paused, knelt down, and held out his arms.  
"Come here to me…."

"Bond- James Bond!" Silas finished for him with glee, and shaking Abby's hand loose, he ran down the steps and into Tony's arms.


End file.
